Performance
Get where you want to be, with BathCalm Performance. This could mean reaching a goal, or just simply feeling good about where you are right now. I have a soft spot for our Performance blend because it was the one I cut my teeth on to to speak. I wanted a blend that was both soothing and aromatic. It also had to feel refreshing and restorative too – and what a journey that took me on! At the outset, BathCalm Performance was always about helping you create you.
When I researched oils and their traditional uses, I discovered one I’d never heard of, and it really caught my attention. I had the strongest feeling that it would be perfect for our Performance blend. Eremophila mitchelli, commonly known as Buddha Wood sounded fantastic, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it to have a smell. Once I did, I wasn’t disappointed either – it really was perfect for our BathCalm Performance!
Creating the BathCalm Performance Blends
When it comes to trialing blends, all of my fragrances firstly need to be robust and long lasting. Secondly, they need to meet the actual purpose of the blend.Performance needed to smell and feel refreshing and restorative. It could be used after a hard workout or a long, tiring day for example. As always, I worked with the aim of using all three notes that make up a blend; base, mid and top notes. The top note is what you will usually smell first, and it’s the first to disappear as well. The mid note makes up the main body of the fragrance. It’s the base note, usually an earthier fragrance, that lasts the longest on your skin. Interestingly, the base note can take a few minutes to show up. The below guide is a handy quick reference to what notes mean and do.
BathCalm Performance Blending Notes at a Glance:
- Top Note: It’s the fragrance you notice first, and it’s usually the first to evaporate too. Top notes tend to be sharp, light and strong, such as ravensara, blood orange or spearmint.
- Mid Note: Also known as “heart” notes, which usually make up the bulk of the blend. Mid notes help to round out and balance the blend. Geranium, juniper berry and chamomile for example, are all mid note oils.
- Base Note: Scents from these oils tend to be rich and full bodied, such as vetiver and sandalwood. They are slower acting than the other notes and take a few minutes to show up, but last the longest. Base notes give real depth to the blend.
Once I had the base note settled, I spent several more months looking for mid and top note oils. These needed to blend well and do justice to Buddha Wood’s amazing scent. After many trials, I finally settled on mid note Juniper Berry and top note Ravensara. Both were aromatic and refreshing fragrances, and as a result, blended well with Buddha Wood.
So what does each essential oil actually do for you in this blend?
Buddha Wood – BathCalm Performance Base Note
Traditional Uses: Cuts, grazes, peace, mindfulness, calm, relaxation
When I first heard about Buddha Wood, I couldn’t wait to get to the nearest essential oil shop and buy some, but they’d never heard of it. The shop owner did a quick Google and discovered that she really should be stocking this oil! Everyone should know about Buddha Wood, because it’s a great oil with many benefits and it deserves to be championed!
Also known as ‘False Sandalwood’, ‘Bastard Sandalwood’, ‘Desert Rose’ or ‘Rosewood Balvory’ (amongst others), Buddha Wood is native to Australia and grows throughout regional Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. It’s a tough, hardy tree that grows up to 10 meters (around 32 feet) in a variety of soils. It thrives in dry conditions, to the point where it’s actually considered a pest in Western Australia!
Buddha Wood essential is extracted through the steam distillation process and is thick and viscous. It has an earthy, almost smoky fragrance and has been used traditionally to promotes calm and relaxation. It also acts as a natural antiseptic for cuts and grazes.
Buddha Wood really is the ‘wood that could’, and we’ve made it a bit of a personal mission here at BathCalm to sings its praises and get it out there to the world!
Juniper Berry – BathCalm Performance Mid Note
Traditional Uses: Relief of arthritic pain and reduces joint swelling, relieves symptoms of gout, lower back pain and menstrual cramps. Relieves mild anxiety, stress and nervous tension, treating acne, and when diluted, aids in the treatment of oily skin.
That’s one heck of a list. This evergreen is a versatile treasure and it sure gets around too! According to Wikipedia, the Juniper Berry has “the largest geographical range of any woody plant growing in areas as diverse as the Arctic south, Europe and Asia.” Earlier surviving species also grew in Africa’s Atlas Mountain range.
Food, fuel, wood, shelter, alcohol, cutlery… every bit of the Juniper tree has been used over the years. Just a few examples include the Scots burning it in Hogmanay cleansing rituals, indigenous Americans using its berries as a female contraceptive, the Nords using both berries and branches for their ales – cheers! – and the French using its wood to create handles for their cutlery – bon appétit!
Depending on its location, the Juniper can grow up to heights of 8 meters (around 25 feet). It can also grow closer to the ground horizontally, more like a shrub. Its berries are steam distilled to produce the oil that creates that fresh, woody aroma that you can smell in your BathCalm Performance blend. We think it’s absolutely delicious and blends beautifully with its Performance counterparts Buddha Wood and Ravensara!
Ravensara – BathCalm Performance Top Note
Traditional Uses: used for its antiseptic and antiviral properties.
The Ravensara tree grows in the central and eastern regions of Madagascar and Comoros Islands. It has traditionally been used for its antiseptic and antiviral properties, similar to Australian Buddha Wood – the base oil of BathCalm’s Performance blend.
The Ravensara tree is a broad-leaved evergreen and can grow up to heights of over 60 meters (around 200 feet) once it reaches maturity. Now that’s one tall tree!
The Ravensara essential oil has a very robust, slightly medicinal aroma that’s reminiscent of licorice. However, once blended with base note Buddha Wood and mid-note Juniper Berry, the top note of Ravensara is significantly toned down, and it completes this dynamic blend beautifully.
As a result, all three oils fit our refreshing and restorative Performance brief perfectly, and are an ideal match for the Performance music and guided meditations and are great at helping you create a better you!
The BathCalm Performance Meditations
Two very different guided meditations feature in BathCalm’s Performance blend. Each have thought provoking and powerful messages however – for you, and about you.
Firstly, Adam’s meditation helps you to visualize who and where you want to be. This could be about your performance at work, in sport, or life in general. Alternatively, Julia’s meditation simply helps bring you back to how special you already are. She helps you to recognize that nothing you do is wasted… and that you are enough.
Sondrine’s Performance music is a wonderful to these guided meditations. Relaxing and meditative, it weaves itself in well. If you don’t feel like a guided meditation however, the music itself is a lovely accompaniment.
Listening to any of these tracks while you’re immersed in your warm fragrant bath is a great way to feel relaxed and inspired. This could relate to where you are in life – or where you want to be; helping you create you. Choose any of the three meditations, depending on what mood you’re in and want to be in. Adam, Julia’s or Sondrine’s music track only are all inspiring and will .
A lot went into the making of BathCalm’s Performance blend. It really is for helping you create you; to help you relax and get back to feeling good about yourself again. You deserve to.
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